Racing
League
Rugby
Cricket
Golf
Motorsport
Combat Sports
Football
Netball
Basketball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
How to tune into Sport NationBlues to discuss pay out of troubled young gun
SEN • October 12th, 2025 6:59 pm
Carlton could make the call to pay out Elijah Hollands if he fails to find a new home ahead of 2026.
Hollands only managed five games in 2025, dealing with extensive personal issues that saw him take leave from the side on two separate occasions across the year.
While the club continued to support Hollands throughout a difficult time, Carlton was evidently disappointed with the 23-year-old, with coach Michael Voss admitting that the best-23 player was told to explore his options following the conclusion of this season.
“In that discussion was ‘it’s up to you to be able to look around and find out does another place suit you’,” Voss told SEN Fireball.
“That’s obviously a discussion we had with him and he’s clear on where we stand with that. It’s up to him to be able to go and explore those options and what they look like.”
“We’ve been a little bit disappointed with how it has transpired across the whole year. He’s been quite an important player to us over the course of the previous year. He had a real influence on the way we played but the year hasn’t gone the way we wanted with ‘Lij’.
“The conversations was if there’s another place that’s going to get the best out of you then this is the time to go and look for that.”
With just three days remaining in the AFL Trade Period, Hollands is yet to find a new home, and with one year left on his deal, Carlton list manager Chris Davies has not ruled out paying out the remainder of his contract with the club.
“I think that (paying him out) is going to have to be a discussion when we get to the end of the trade period,” Davies told AFL Trade Radio.
“The club with Elijah has said that we are comfortable with him exploring whatever options there are for him.
“But equally, if there aren’t any, then the club is going to have make a decision.
“It is hard when you watch players, and I’ve had players like this at my former club (Port Adelaide) who have loads of talent and for whatever reason aren’t able to put it on the field for whatever personal struggles they have.
“It is important that you give the player the opportunity to amend their behaviour, it is certainly important that you give the player support to know there is a chance.
“But that is something we will have to work through once the trade period finishes.”
The Trade Period wraps up on Wednesday at 7:30pm AEST.
